Magic Friday is written by Jamie D. Grant, a magician in Vancouver, CanadaWhat The Audience Sees:
“This week, Jamie said he just had a few moments and wanted to show us something quickly. Boom, there’s a flash of light, or fire, or maybe he made me hallucinate for a second and, all of a sudden, he’s holding a candy in a wrapper. Then, the %#^#n candy simply disappears from the wrapper! I didn’t know where it went until I saw that it had reappeared in his mouth! Crazy! Can you imagine going out to dinner with this guy? He probably doesn’t even need to order! He can just walk in through the doors and turn right around, totally full! It was pretty sweet.”
How It Went:
You know, sometimes you just stumble across something and it really hits home. Atomic 2.0 is this kind of effect. It’s visual, it’s concise, it’s well thought out, it’s easy, and it makes for a cool opener. I’ve often wanted something that was a bit “flashy” and this is the perfect trick.
On Friday, it played super well and, I’ll admit, stronger than I though it would. I had the idea that I could use this as an opener before moving into something that I thought was stronger but the reactions I got from this justified it as a stand alone effect. I think sometimes we take for granted some of the techniques and items we have at our disposal and forget that most spectators have never seen this kind of thing before. Ever. I mean, I know a lot of people, and I’ve never had anybody show me this kind of thing. So you can imagine what it can do to a spectator.
And the candy appearance is just super cool. Its disappearance is even cooler. And the reappearance just makes a sort of logical sense that makes the whole thing practical, logical, and magical. I mean, this is the kind of thing that a real magician would do (aside from creating large sums of cash).
Best Lines:
”Where did that come from?!!”
-A good question, to be sure.
”Hey! Where did it go?!! No way!!!!!”
-I think these natural reactions confirm their belief in what they thought happened. Awesome.
Angry Bob Rating:
For those of you reading this article for the first time, Angry Bob is a co-worker who has an understanding of some magic because his uncle was a magician. Angry Bob knows that TT’s exist, for example, but he has no desire to become a magician himself. He also has an anger management problem that can be experienced first hand if he can’t figure out how a trick is done. A high rating means he has no idea.
”Hunh. Real %$^$n cute. Give me one.”
-I’m not really sure, to be honest. He gave no indication whatsoever and just wanted a candy, lol.
My Rating:
You know, I think this trick deserves a higher rating than I would normally consider. And there’s a couple of reasons for it. If a fellow magician just showed you this, you would probably just go- that’s kind of cool. But after doing it all day Friday, I realized just how “real world” this is, and how I’ll probably be performing this for a very long time. I also liked Michael Paul and his performing style and think he has good magical head on his shoulders. Let’s put it this way, each time I’ve left the house this weekend, I’ve had Atomic 2.0 ready to go- that says something. 9.5/10.
The JDG Tip:
I speak.
Lol, I wanted to leave the JDG Tip with just those two words but I guess I should elaborate. While Michael’s reasons for not speaking make sense, I think speaking helps the magic a bit in this case and is just more my style.
Closing Thoughts:
Pick up this DVD. I think we need to support artists like Michael Paul and encourage them. It’s this kind of disc that will give you something that you’ll definitely use but might otherwise get overlooked for something fancier and more in. That would be a mistake. That’s my pitch and I’m stickin’ to it.
Have a great week, everyone!
Jamie D. Grant
www.jamiedgrant.com
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